Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The UN General Assembly and Syria. This year’s annual debate will be sustainable development goals, with various world leaders addressing the topic in the coming days. Representatives from the US, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia (paywall) will also meet alongside to discuss the collapse of the ceasefire and attack on a UN aid convoy in Syria on Monday.
US regulators issue new guidelines on self-driving cars. The rules will require carmakers to meet 15 benchmarks before their autonomous vehicles can hit the road. They’ll also have to make public their vehicle performance assessments so regulators and others can evaluate them.
FedEx releases its quarterly results. Analysts are expecting solid results and revenue of around $13 billion, based on the growth in the e-commerce sector and lower fuel prices. Investors will be watching for indications on how the integration process with TNT is going.
While you were sleeping
The US blamed Russia for an attack on a UN aid convoy in Syria. Twelve people were killed and 18 trucks of food destined for thousands of stranded civilians were destroyed en route to a rebel-held area near Aleppo on Monday. The US said it held Russia responsible for the attack, saying it was Moscow’s job to rein in Syrian government forces. The week-long ceasefire collapsed on Monday.
Bayer might drop the Monsanto name. According to Bloomberg, executives at the German chemicals giant are discussing ditching the name in an attempt to distance itself from Monsanto’s reputation—as the company that developed Agent Orange and genetically modified “frankenfoods.” It may be the least of its worries–the $66 billion takeover deal faces antitrust probes in 30 global jurisdictions.
Pinewood Studios is off to Beijing. The iconic British film studio behind the James Bond and Star Wars movies has set up shop in China (paywall), where it’s already been offering consulting services to China’s Dalian Wanda cinema group. On Monday, Pinewood shareholders approved the company’s $421 million takeover by private equity firm PW Real Estate Fund III.
Uber rival Grab raised $750 million in fresh capital. Existing investor Softbank led the latest funding round for the Singapore-based ride-hailing firm, which has a dominant position in Southeast Asia. The latest round of funding values the company, which operates in six countries, at at over $3 billion.
North Korea tested another rocket. In the latest in a string of weapons tests, the country’s news agency said this one involved a new kind of high-powered rocket engine. Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama and Chinese premier Li Keqiang agreed to cooperate on revised UN sanctions towards North Korea after its fifth nuclear test recently.
Quartz obsession interlude
Manu Balachandran on Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s sky-high popularity ratings two years in. ”Since coming to power, Modi has made foreign policy the cornerstone of his administration, traveling to as many as 42 countries and building India’s image as a regional soft power. The exercise is paying dividends at home.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
College students are drinking to forget. Competition, stress, and job fears during the school week drive them to black out on the weekends (paywall).
Watching TV can be a kind of therapy. An abundance of shows with idiosyncratic heroes means everyone can find a character (paywall) to connect with.
The world’s most delicate sites can be hurt by preservation efforts. They lead to more tourists coming and destroying them.
Surprising discoveries
George H.W. Bush intends to vote for Hillary Clinton. According to one of the Kennedys, the former Republican president prefers the Democratic nominee to Donald Trump.
The world’s oldest library is set to reopen. The ninth-century library in Fez, Morocco has an underground canal system to drain moisture away from priceless manuscripts.
What’s hidden inside a former Nazi airplane hangar near Berlin? The world’s largest indoor tropical park.
There are some similarities between Tesla’s deadly autopilot crashes. In the two instances, the system appears to have mistaken an object straight ahead for the sky.
Yale’s new application questions are revealing. They show a renewed interest in boosting diversity and inclusion.
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